All Over Again
by still-guns
Summary: Things did not go to plan after Third Impact. When a small mistake takes the lives of the last two humans on Earth, a certain Angel is given the chance to go back and make things right. Third Impact is no longer a desirable option, but in order to prevent it, he will need help from several unexpected corners. S/A Kaworu/OC Peggy Sue with references to other great fics Some OOC
1. Prologue: A Familiar Beginning-Ending

_So... I'm having major difficulties with TDALS at the moment. The ideas just aren't coming to me._

_But speaking of ideas coming to me, this one came along one night after reading a bunch of the greatest Eva peggy sues. I'll still need to play with it, but I'm hoping it will go well._

_Also, PLEASE tell me if anything needs changing. I'd appreciate the feedback on where I can improve._

**Prologue**

Red. All around for as far as the eye could see, there was red. There was the occasional splash of white, grey and black, but otherwise red reigned supreme. On the white sands of a beach, by the shattered remains of an office building and watched over by petrified, crucifix-like statues, two figures lay. One adorned in a bright red rubbery suit and bandages on her arm and over her left eye, the other in a simple shirt and trousers. The girl had red hair and blue eye, although the predominance of that colour gave her eye a brownish hue. He had brown hair and blue eyes that were opened so wide, that an observer might have assumed he'd lost control over his eyelids. Alas, there were no observers. There was no-one, but he and her. They were the last of the human race, destroyed by Third Impact. And the first thing Shinji Ikari did was to promptly strangle the girl.

He didn't know why he was doing it. Perhaps to gain some perspective, to confirm he was no longer in the strange world of Instrumentality. Asuka Langley Soryu did not resist. She didn't even make a sound, just slightly twisted her face in pain.

And then her neck snapped.

Shinji froze when he heard the vertebrae in Asuka's neck give way. The pulse under his fingers immediately went away and her laboured breathing stopped. Her eye widened in shock, her face distorting even further in pain and panic. Shinji himself was panicking now, frantically trying to help her. But his efforts were in vain as her eye rolled back and she passed.

For several minutes he tried to raise her, to revive her, but without any functioning equipment, it was impossible. Tears streaming down his face, he stood and fled the scene, entering the devastated remains of Tokyo-3. He did not notice Rei/Lilith flashing into existence beside Asuka's corpse, a worried look on her face.

8888888

Sometime later, she stood inside a building, tears of her own splashing on the floor. Shinji Ikari's body gently swung from the rope he had attached to the exposed ceiling beam. His mind had been utterly destroyed by Instrumentality and killing Asuka. Unable to cope with it, he had taken his own life, thus making humanity extinct. For Rei/Lilith, this was incomprehensible.

"This was not how it was to have happened!" she cried in despair, before disappearing from the room.

88888888

Shinji Ikari had had one hell of a day. First, his father had made contact with him for the first time in three years, then a giant monster had attacked the city, he'd been blown up by a nuclear bomb and was now piloting a giant robot he'd never seen before to fight said monster… with no training.

So why did he feel like he'd done this all before?

"Eva Launch!" exclaimed Operations Director Misato Katsuragi and suddenly, Shinji was being forced into his seat by the extreme acceleration G's. He grunted as Unit-01 sped towards an opening hatch on the surface, just a couple of blocks from where the Angel Sachiel was stalking. In no time at all, Shinji was on the surface, facing down the Angel. He wasn't feeling very confident, seeing as this same being had survived an onslaught of conventional munitions and an N2 mine whilst slaughtering all that opposed it.

"Are you ready, Shinji?" Misato asked over the radio.

"Umm, yeah?" he replied, knowing that wasn't really. There was a short pause, then as the final locks on the lift carriage released, her voice came back,

"Evangelion Unit-01, MOVE OUT!" He froze, not knowing at all what to do. So Dr. Akagi's voice telling him to concentrate on walking was a godsend.

'_Walk._' He thought, commanding the massive robot to walk. Amazingly, it actually worked, picking up its right foot and taking a short step. His confidence boosted a little from this small, but significant achievement.

'_Walk!_' he thought again, and the Unit raised its left foot. But suddenly, he felt overcome by balance issues, confusing him greatly and the machine toppled over, smashing its face into the ground. He winced as he _felt_ it and he clutched his face in pain, moaning at this unexpected outcome.

"Shinji! Are you OK?" Misato called worriedly. But as he recovered, he found no time to respond as he discovered the Angel looming over him. More words from Misato went unheard as he froze in fear.

The Angel reached down and picked up Unit-01 by the head, then grabbed onto its left arm and began to squeeze. He keened in pain, his own arm in anguish and more words from Misato flying over his head. When the arm snapped, he just stiffened up, all ability to fight back just gone. All he could bring himself to do was clutch his eye as the Angel powered its rams and began smashing Unit-01's cranial armour.

And when it punched through, he did the sensible thing, and passed out.

8888888888

Central-Dogma entered a state of uproar.

"The head is damaged! Extent of damage: Unknown!" shouted one tech.

"We're having problems maintaining activation!" cried another.

"Status report!" Misato yelled.

"Synchro-graph reversing," Maya Ibuki reported back, "The pulses are flowing backward!"

"Break the circuit now!" Dr. Akagi ordered her protégé.

"I CAN'T!" Maya cried back, "It's not accepting the signal!

"What about Shinji?" Misato asked frantically.

"His condition's unknown."

"Unit-01 has gone completely silent!"

Misato mulled this grave news over for a moment, before springing back into action.

"We've got no choice… Abort the operation! We've got to rescue the pilot. Eject the entry-plug!"

"We can't. It's completely out of control!"

"What did you say?!"

8888888888

Unit-01 reactivated. The restraints holding its jaws together broke, revealing large teeth behind the amour. Enraged, she reared her head and howled, launching herself at the Thrid Angel. Her initial attempt was fruitless, Sachiel managing to throw her off of itself, but she was relentless.

_[We've done it]_

She charged at Sachiel once again, but he recovered and blocked her path with an AT-Field.

_[It's an AT-Field!]_

_[No, not now!]_

She could break through the Field, but to do so, she needed her broken arm to function again. She channelled some of the energy flowing into her to repair her arm, before she assaulted the Field, breaking through with ease.

_[It broke through that AT-Field like it wasn't there!]_

Sachiel began panicking and used his final trump card. His eyes flashed, a burst of energy blasting into Unit-01. But the effect was minimal and only served to anger her even more. She grabbed his wrists in a one-handed grip and then twisted them together with such force, that his bones and rams broke, blue blood splashing to the floor. She raised her leg and savagely kicked Sachiel in the chest, sending him flying backwards, hitting an apartment block with enough force to break it off its foundations.

8888888888

Inside, Toji and Sakura Suzuhara cowered in fear, their room exposed by the impact. In the distance, they could see Unit-01 barrelling down the street. Toji looked up at the crazed ceiling, knowing that if it gave, they could both be seriously injured.

Impact was imminent.

"What the…? RADAR has detected an Unidentified Flying Object incoming!"

"What?"

88888888888

Just as Unit-01 was about to make contact with the Angel, a great winged figure slammed onto the ground between them, raised its left arm and braced itself.

Unit-01 crashed into the mysterious giant, but the newcomer did not lose its foothold, only digging into the tarmac. Its wings retracted into a recess on its back with an eerie sound as it raised its right arm into the air. The arm clunked and the hand swung into the forearm, a lateral plasma cannon pivoting from the same place and locking into position. With a graceful swing, it brought the cannon to bear with Unit-01's thrashing torso and fired. Unit-01 went soaring into the air, crashing back into the building that it had been forced into by Sachiel's ram.

Speaking of the Angel, it saw an opportunity to get out of its rut and made to stand up, but the newcomer swung the plasma cannon down to point at the Angel, not even looking at it. The cannon swung back inside the forearm and was replaced by the hand once again. The fingers clamped together, the tips opening and ultra-sharp blades shooting out. Then, with a hiss of compressed air, the blade arm shot forward on its pneumatic ram and pierced the Angel's core.

At the other end of the road, Unit-01 recovered and turned to face the newcomer, snarling furiously.

Retracting its mechanical arm from Sachiel's core, the smooth, bullet-like head of the jet-black newcomer, was distorted by a pair of bright red lips and smooth white teeth.

And the mysterious Eva Unit snarled back, its pilot mimicking it,

"Do your worst!" said Kaworu Nagisa.


	2. Trials and Formulations

_CHAPTER EDITED 30th March 2015_

_Guess who's Back?! Yes, me. So far, there has been only a little response to this fic, but I aim to change that ;)_

_In this chapter, we briefly go back to after the end, before returning to the present day, where an unexpected character has taken the first steps to changing history._

_Review Responses:_

_Never Learned to Code: I suppose it would be, but there is a reason for this. It will all come to light sooonn._

_Guest: I try my best. When it comes to fleshing things out, I can be great… or terrible. And as you'll see in this chapter, the mysterious Eva is _not_ attacking Unit-01._

_Seeking Professional Help:That's fine ^_^ If this doesn't float your boat, I won't hold it against you. But work on the next chapter of TDALS is going reeaaalllly slowly. Ideas for it don't come easily._

[][][][][][][][][][][][][]

**Trials and Formulations**

_[The Last Haven – Floating Lights]_

Rei/Lilith did not pay much attention to the passage of time. She just knew a long period of time had passed since Shinji had taken his life. Distraught at the events that had unfolded, Rei/Lilith forgot to salvage their souls. Now, dozens of days after the fact, Shinji and Asuka were unrecoverable, past the light at the end of the proverbial tunnel. And so she had stood here on the beach, next to Asuka's untouched corpse, the lack of bacteria in the environment leaving her body in near pristine condition. If one were to have left the Earth and come back a hundred years later, the body would still look like she had passed yesterday.

She cursed the weak human soul. Following the death of its body, a human soul would linger for a while, allowing it to be manipulated, or as Rei/Lilith wanted to do, revive the body. But she was human enough to have been distracted and thus she had lost Asuka and Shinji's souls. Nor could She could not take any of the souls from the Sea against their will and make them resettle the Earth.

No-one had emerged to take their place.

A thought struck her. There were souls she could control past death. She could feel them now, lingering, dormant. Closing her eyes, she reached out to them.

The ferocity of Zeruel.

The curiousness of Sachiel.

The youth of Sandalphon.

The kindness of Tabris.

Her eyes snapped open and she turned her gaze to one of the Mass Production Evangelion's that stood, embedded, in the sea. Like a body with no soul, she could not return a soul without a body. But inside each and every one of the MP-Eva's was a Seele designed dummy entry plug.

Inside each of these dummy plugs… was a clone of Kaworu Nagisa.

She cursed herself at her own blindness. The answer had been right in front of her this whole time and she had been too busy brooding. She willed herself to towards the closest unit, freeing her feet of their sandy tomb and stopped beside the back of the Eva. She dismissed the huge hole in its left pectoral region and simply shattered the pyramid like hatch over the plug port, its petrified mass being no obstacle.

She brought up an arm and swept it forcefully, bringing the dummy plug out its receptacle. It pleased Rei/Lilith to see that the plug was not petrified and she opened the hatch on top.

Stale LCL flowed out of the opening, smearing the Eva's hide and mixing with the sea below. As she closed in, she found the object of her desires. Its face was smiling absently. It reminded Rei of her 'sisters' in Terminal Dogma…Lilith had to interject to stop Rei's distraction. Now was not the time to be weighed down by old fears. It was time to wipe off that silly grin.

"Tabris…" she spoke, "No… _Kaworu_, I awake you from your long sleep."

Nothing happened for a moment. Then, the eyes of the clone began looking around, frantically. It took a deep, swallowing gasp and began coughing, expelling the LCL from its lungs. Then it looked up at Rei/Lilith and ceased to be an 'it'.

"Where am I?" Said Kaworu, "Why am I here?"

Rei/Lilith looked back at him, her expression sincere,

"Because I have a use for you."

[][][][][][]][[][][][][][]

Unit-01 howled in rage and charged back down the street. At the other end, the black Eva turned the blade back into a hand, shifted its stance and braced, and positioned the arm in front of itself to take the impact. Two pieces of armour flipped open on the forearm and a rod extended from the bicep to further support it.

Unit-01 crashed into the Eva with the force of a million artillery shells, actually making the supporting rod on the mechanical arm buckle slightly. But the Eva stood fast, its feet digging into the road surface. Unit-01 tried to bite down on the arm, to disable it, to get it out of the way, but her teeth only made contact with the extended plates and thus her jaws were deflected. The Eva was stubborn; it refused to budge, standing fast in front of the apartment block. But Unit-01 saw a gap in its defences and exploited it.

Her hands made contact with her adversary's neck, squeezing the life out of it. She had caught it so completely off guard that it made no attempt to save itself, not even scrabbling futilely at her hands. Rumbling with pleasure, she made the move to break its neck.

The black Eva's neck was flung upwards and backwards, smashing against its back. She widened her eye in surprise. That had been _far_ too easy and for whatever reason; the unit still stood its ground, still kept her back. Her astonishment and confusion only grew when the unit's head lifted back up and faced back at her, its lips contorted and teeth bared.

88888888888888888

Inside the entry plug, Kaworu faced down Unit-01. The earlier plasma cannon blast had damaged her armour too much for it to be used again, but he couldn't perform his duty with Unit-01 tussling with him. The frustration of his own Eva unit fed back into him.

"I understand, my friend. We cannot harm her, lest we harm Shinji," he thought back to it, "We do have one more weapon in our arsenal that we can use… Yes, with the proper attachment, we will not harm her…"

He focused back on Unit-01, who was coming back to her senses.

"Computer!" he cried, his voice echoing around the plug, "Activate weapon: SONIC CANNON!"

The right shoulder pylon snapped open. Inside of a few seconds, the 12-inch Pattern 1907 gun inside the pylon was fitted with a strange dome-like attachment to the end of the barrel. Using the same mechanisms as the progressive knife holster on the purple Eva, the gun was tilted downwards, bringing the barrel to bear with Unit-01. The dome attachment flashed, and a frill extended from the base. The black Eva brought its mechanical hand up to the top of the pylon and braced it, preparing for the kickback. And then the weapon fired, propelling a shell down the barrel and into the dome, exploding on contact.

The shockwave was harnessed. It was focused by the dome and then sent into the frill. The frill audibly resonated, then snapped forward, closing to a point.

The gun was already recoiling from firing the shell. The expulsion of the shockwave kicked the barrel back even further, forcing the Eva to twist its torso, the spent shell casing being ejected from the breech.

The force of the blast once again sent Unit-01 flying through the air, clean over the tower block and landing two miles away. The purple Eva was too stunned to get up immediately, its mind still processing what had just happened.  
The dome and its frill then promptly fell to pieces from structural failure, the gun returned to its upright position and the pylon closed.

Kaworu didn't smile. He took no pleasure in causing pain to Shinji or Unit-01. He had no desires to create Third Impact or allow it to happen, and hurting Shinji only brought the event closer to fruition.

The first step to redemption was behind him. He turned to look behind him, seeing the Suzuhara children cowering in the wreckage of their home. He didn't need to tell the Eva what to do; it read his thoughts there and then.

It turned around, creaking with that odd, biological sound, bringing its real hand up to the opening.

Activating the speakers on the pylons, Kaworu called to the cowering youths,

"Children," he said softly, "Get on my hand. It is safe for now, but there is no time to lose."

Toji was the first to look up. The sight of this giant machine with lips and teeth made him uneasy. The numbers engraved on the teeth only offered token familiarity with a human creation. Clad in black armour, the Eva looked almost demonic, sadistic. But it was offering an escape to a dangerous situation.

"Sakura," he nudged his sister. The terrified girl had her hands clamped over her ears, so he peeled one of them off, "Sakura, comon. We gotta get outta here. The robots gonna get us down." Sakura relaxed and looked up at her brother. A giant paw of jaws loomed over him, massive teeth seemingly ready to eat them. She froze in fear once more.

The Unit pursed its lips, a thin red line the only reminder of its existence, but Sakura still would not budge. Toji was forced to pick her up and literally dump her into the Eva's waiting palm, before jumping down himself.

"Alright, now put us down!" he yelled up at the smooth head. Huge fingers partially closed around them protectively and the Eva turned away. But as it began walking away, a loud screech pierced the air and suddenly, they were falling, Sakura screaming at this unexpected action.

Kaworu had also not been expecting the Third Angel to latch onto his Unit's legs and form a large, fleshy ball. Unable to walk further, it tripped, and slammed into the ground just a few meters from where it had started. An intense burning sensation on his thigh gave him cause for concern.

'So,' he thought, 'Brother wishes to die in style? I will not allow you to harm these children, Sachiel!'

As Sachiel's damaged core began to overload, Kaworu tilted the Eva's hand and the children dropped out. But as they were scrambling to run away, Kaworu had other ideas.

"Defense Mechanism activate: HAND SHIELD!"

The robotic fingers snapped shut. Large, but thin metal plates slid out of the edges and bent inwards. With a whir of servos, the Hand Shield slammed down around Toji and Sakura, enclosing between tarmac and metal.

Unit-01 stood up just in time to witness Sachiel self-destructing. She had to avert her eye to avoid becoming sightless.

[][][][][][][][][][][][][]

Kaworu was startled by his return from the dead. He was the last Angel, he had been slain, he was not supposed to exist any longer, yet here he was, looking up at a world he didn't recognise. But in the corner of his vision, he could see someone he would always recognise.

"Rei?" he questioned the pure white girl above him.

She shook her head, earning a look of confusion.

"Lilith?" Once again, she shook her head,

"I am neither Rei nor Lilith… but I sense I am both as well." She looked back at him, her red eyes staring deep into him and he realised.

"You are… in great pain." He stated, unsure what to feel. Feelings… he felt _different_. Gingerly, he stood up. He was weak, as if he hadn't moved his muscles in years. Gazing at his hands, he noted odd imperfections with his body; moles were he'd never had moles, an odd stiffness in his fingers and a patch of normal toned skin on his left pec. His gaze shifted to the item he was standing in; an entry plug, or to be more precise a dummy plug.

Tracing the blood red tube, emblazoned with his own name, his eyes found the great grey Evangelion the plug was sticking out of. He looked up at the world, finding it to be devastated, beyond all recognition. A colossal white arm lay on the horizon and below, on a beach, lay a tiny figure. He felt fear as he couldn't tell who it was. He couldn't focus his sight and he couldn't instinctively tell. It disturbed him.

He realised this body was not his own. The being floating beside him had taken his soul and placed it inside this imperfect construct. He was no longer an angel. He was but a simple human being.

He glanced up at the being that was both/neither Rei and Lilith.

"Why have you made me Lilim?" he asked as emotions he had never felt before cascading into his mind, "In fact, why have you placed me into one of my false selves?" She regarded him momentarily, her face falling slightly.

"I would have felt uncomfortable had I used the two true Lilim bodies at my disposal." She replied, sadly.

"True Lilim…?" Kaworu started, but he trailed off, suddenly comprehending the body on the beach. Instrumentality had happened, and it had been rejected. But through some cruel twist of fate, they had died, their souls left unrecovered. He trembled in shock, gasping short, sharp breaths when he realised the only person to have the compassion to reject Instrumentality was Shinji. It pained him to learn that Shinji was dead… so why hadn't she _saved_ him?

He looked back at Rei/Lilith, his eyes brimming with tears,

"I want to know what happened. _Everything_."

[][][][][][]][[][][][][][]

Far from Tokyo-3, a girl slammed her hand down on a communications device, her mind-set panicked. She had just watched Unit-07 be engulfed by the suicide of the Third Angel, something that by his own calculations was not supposed to happen. She couldn't bear to think what had happened to him. Mama and Papa had told her of this battle, but only now did she understand how _scared_ everyone was.

"Kaworu-ojisan!" she screamed into the microphone, "Kaworu-ojisan! Please don't be dead!"

"_AHHH_!" came the sudden, loud and certainly not amused reply of the former Angel, "_I'm still alive stupid!_" The girl jumped at the response, but she quickly recovered, beaming in relief.

"Don't scare me like that again, ojisan!" All she got was chuckling.

"_You certainly underestimate the strength of an Evangelion young one_," he laughed, "_Unit-01 survived the blast point blank the first time. Unit-07 is supposed to be even more advanced than her. I'm perfectly fine_!" The girl blushed,

"Yeah, I guess I just worried because of Unit-07's… you know. Oh, you did save Toji and Sakura right?"

"_Yes, young one, they're safe and sound._"

An unexpected beeping broke the conversation, and she slid her chair over to a monitor, a ragdoll model of Unit-07 on its screen flashing red,

"Errrr, ojisan?"

88888888888888

|\ATTENTION: ARM RETENTION SYSTEM – _FAILURE/|_

|\ALL ARM SYSTEMS – _COMPRIMISED_/|

Kaworu was horrified. His brother's death had damaged Unit-07's mechanical arm beyond repair.

_And the Suzuhara children were still underneath_.

He sprang up from his prone position on the ground, like he had been scolded by hot water. Unit-07 leapt to its feet, revealing the shaken, but grateful children beneath the shield. The Eva gritted its teeth, a gesture copied by Kaworu, both feeling the physical feeling of the sparking arm beginning to peel away the stump that was Unit-07's right arm. It was sickening, the sensation of one's arm just falling away and leaving open veins in its place.

The arm smashed to the ground, distorting the still deployed hand shield, the shearing of metal grinding through the air as the impact bent the fingers beyond the limit for the shield. A shower of blood immediately began spraying from the empty stump and one could hear Unit-07's groans at the unpleasantness. With its one remaining arm, it reached for the stump and deftly pulled a tourniquet that was already on there, hidden until the loss of the prosthetic.

"_You don't need to tell me anything,_" the girls' voice came over the radio, "_I'll get construction begun on a new arm_."

"How thoughtful of you," Kaworu he shot back at her, semi-sarcastically, but really he was having a hard time inflecting his speech. He couldn't help letting out a groan, his arm tingling from the loss of the prosthetic, and protesting the tight tourniquet. Not to mention his legs were screaming from the explosion.

"_Are you sure you're okay, ojisan?_" he smiled at his adopted niece's concern for his wellbeing, despite the fact they barely knew eachother,

"It is just sympathetic pain, young one," he replied, tapping some buttons on the butterfly controls to release a painkiller into Unit-07's bloodstream, "I will be home soon. I just have to destroy the evidence."

"_OK, ojisan. Be safe._" Her communication window shut off, and Kaworu was now alone, with just Unit-07's thoughts mingling with his own.

"Time to go, Unit. Progressive Knife: Deploy!"

From the left pylon of EVA Unit-07, a gigantic version of a Fairburn Sykes Fighting Knife was deployed, offered to the Eva's one remaining hand. Taking the knife from its holster, the Eva deftly flipped it over, with the blade pointing downwards and began savagely hacking at the discarded mechanical arm.

Red fluid spurted all over the ruined buildings, fuel for the plasma cannon combusting in a large poof of smoke and severed parts went flying as the Eva hacked and slashed the arm, before he began stomping on it, flattening the larger portions and rendering the multi-functional arm completely useless. Satisfied that NERV would be unable to utilise its technology, Kaworu placed the knife back into its scabbard.

-NAGISA-

Unit-07's thoughts broke into Kaworu's mind. It was getting his attention.

"_What is it Unit?"_ He responded.

-TO THE LEFT. SHE COMES-

Looking left, Kaworu's eyes widened at the sight of Unit-01 charging at him. He did not what to fight, and even if he did, he no longer had the capabilities he once did.

"_Unit,_" he thought back to it, "_We must fly now._"

888888888888

For the past few minutes, the entirety of Central Dogma had been stunned into silence at the appearance of an inexplicable Eva Unit that had single-handedly held off a berserk Unit-01, killed the Third Angel, rescued civilians and lost an arm. Now this once formidable machine seemed rather dogged, and it tiredly braced itself against the stampeding NERV Eva.

But it seemed to be a ruse. Unit-01's charge was brushed off upon contact, the black Unit sweeping its arm around, and driving Unit-01 into an office building with enough force to make its own bulk become airborne. The great wings folded out of its back once more and the Unit soared away from Tokyo-3, the purple Eva below growling in ashamed defeat, before its eye went dark.

Shigeru Aoba was the first to break the silence,

"Unit-01 has gone silent. Pilot life signs are confirmed."

Dr. Akagi wasted no time in gathering her composure,

"Maya, confirm with the MAGI-4 at the First Branch that Unit-03 is still under construction and is accounted for!"

"Unit-03, ma'am?" Makoto Hyuga questioned.

"That Evangelion resembled Unit-03. It seems impossible, but it could have been completed without our knowledge and deployed here."

"MAGI-4 confirms, Sempai," Maya called out, "Unit-03 is still under construction. It's no-where near completion."

"If that wasn't Unit-03…" Misato uttered, "What was it?"

"Captain Katsuragi, Dr. Akagi," the voice of Commander Ikari punctuated above all the others, "Report to the Conference Room. We must report this… 'incident' to the Committee at once."

"Yes, Sir." The pair of women fired back.

Before she left the room, Misato turned and gave one last order to the bridge crew,

"Retrieve Unit-01. Get Shinji out of there."

88888888888888

Far away from Tokyo-3, Unit-07 slammed down on the ground once more, bending its legs to absorb the impact, its arm forward to further support the landing. As it stood, its magnificent wings retracted back into their fairing, the eerie sound unheard by humans. In the foot of Mount Fuji, no-one ventured this far into the forest. Ever since Second Impact, Aokigahara was said to contain the souls of the people who took their own lives there. Soon, even the rangers had refused to go into the forest and it had become taboo to enter, lest you disturbed the dead.

For Kaworu, it was perfect. A large secluded area that no-one went to anymore. The area didn't disturb him one bit, since he knew human souls did not last long after death. But, for whatever reason, he always preferred to land right outside the door to the secret hideout and not the middle of the forest.

A set of great doors opened in the base of the volcano, leading into a hollowed out chamber. With lava no longer supplied here, it was the perfect place to set up basecamp. As Unit-07 stepped inside the cavern, long arm-like cranes grabbed onto its shoulder pylons and removed them, stacking them into their respective slots besides another eight pairs. The Unit stopped beside a gantry, the conical hatch on its back slid open, and the entry plug ejected.

Kaworu sighed as the LCL drained from the plug. It was a challenge to exit the plug, a side effect of his body's dummy plug origins. He had to overcome programming that told him not to leave the plug. But fortunately, as the hatch opened, he saw his helping hand.

She reached in and grabbed a hold of his chest, ignoring the sticky LCL that clung to his plugsuit. He began to panic as she lifted him out of the plug, and was actively struggling as he landed on the gantry. Unit-07 looked over at the tiny humans, seemingly concerned, but Kaworu's cries of protest quickly died down to heavy pants. Then, without a sound, it walked off, the plug retracting back into the Unit's back and being covered up.

Kaworu just sat there for a moment, calming himself and silencing the programming's feeble protests. Slowly, he cranked his head upwards, making eye contact with the crisp, blue eyes of his adopted niece,

"I need a shower," He told her, smiling tiredly. She returned the gesture with her signature, goofy grin,

"OK!" she squeaked enthusiastically, taking this latest episode extremely well, as always.

Of course, the life of a former Angel is never quiet, and this fact was marked by an extremely large _*BANG!*_ from another chamber. Standing up, Kaworu and the girl turned round to see another black Eva Unit with pink highlights squashed beneath a titanic blue machine, too stunned to move or cry out in surprise. Two other Units, one with several large spikes through its head and the other, cleaved almost in half, rushed to its aid, and quickly lifted up the robot, whilst a fourth Unit that had a misshapen, mutilated head, dragged the stunned Unit away.

A fifth Unit, with just a small gash in its chest, watched with barely hidden mirth, shaking its head.

As the robot was laid back down on its side, a hatch on the crafts top opened up, and a young girl wearing tan armour hopped out onto the waiting hand of another black Eva Unit, this one with a long, shattered piece of metal embedded in its head. She pulled off her helmet, revealing a mop of reddish-brown hair,

"Sorrrry!" she called out to the now recovering Eva, "I think the leg servo went again!"

"Nope!" another girl yelled, emerging from the ejecting entry plug of the black-and-pink Eva, "Your servos are fine. But I think mine isn't doing so good." All eyes focused on the prosthetic left leg on the latter girls Eva. Kaworu grimaced at the sight of red fluid leaking on the polished metal floor.

"Oh Great!" his de facto niece fumed beside him, "Two prosthetic limbs in ONE DAY! That's TWO Eva's who can't deploy now!" It was abundantly clear, that this normally happy girl, was not very pleased that two of her inventions had been wrecked in one day. Kaworu couldn't say he blamed her.

Another girl who wasn't very pleased was the pilot of the stricken Unit,

"Awwwww maannn!" She moaned in response, slapping the side of her entry plug in annoyance, "I wanted to kick the next Angel's arse so much! Imagine how much puppy boy would crawl over me, thanking me for saving his life!" She pouted, totally serious about her newly acquired zero-combat capability.

"WHAT?! Shinji would never go for a dyke like you, Mari!" The first girl cried out in disgust, "Everyone knows he likes me better!"

"Oh, so you think I should go after Princess then, huh?" Mari grinned a Cheshire grin at her friendly rival, "I can't wait to see her again! We did so many things together where I'm from..."

"OK!" the red-head exclaimed suddenly, "I really did not need that image in my head." She grimaced. She had forgotten that Mari swung both ways. This earned a devilish cackle from Mari, but before she could say anything more,

"Ladies!" Kaworu interjected before the nonsense could continue any further, "That's quite enough for now." Both pilots looked up at him in surprise, one of them much happier to see him than the other,

"Kaworu-kun!" Mana Kirishima waved up at him in delight, "I see you're back in one piece!"

'_Wish the same could be said for his Eva._' The brown haired niece grumbled to herself.

Mari, however, upon noticing that Kaworu was indeed here, just slunk back inside her entry plug and let her Eva be carried away and the scene cleared, pretending she didn't exist. The other three people watched her disappear, the niece and Mana still confused as to what Mari held against him. but kaworu just toom a deep breath and sighed.

"Aki-chan," Kaworu caught his niece's attention with the name her parents had given her, "Where is River-san?"

Aki pointed up at the ceiling of the cavern,

"Up top, watching the stars as always."

As Kaworu made for the stairs that would lead him to the mountainside, Aki quite noisily cleared her throat,

"Somehow, I don't think she'll be impressed if you go up there like that." Kaworu stopped in his tracks and inspected himself. True to her word, he was still clad in an LCL coated plugsuit. Sheepishly, he raised his arm and pointed in the direction of the showers, Mana poking her tongue at him as she joined him,

"I _really_ need a shower." He declared wearily.

Aki just sniggered.

END OF CHAPTER ONE

_OK, so this chapter has taken quite a while to get down. In the time it's taken to finish this, Z98 has released _four_ chapters of In Tune. Or is it five? XD_

_So the grand scale of things is beginning to be revealed. Personally, I think I could have done more, so I will take reader suggestions to improve this if need be._

_The next chapter will follow much the same layout as this, starting after the end (for the last time I might add), before coming back to our time (sort of)._

_I will point out, that I don't know much about Kaworu's role in EoE. I know that Kaworu has some relation to Adam, but it's all very complicated for me. So I may have to think up some way as why he doesn't know what transpired in Instrumentality._

_As always, leave a review and I'll see you in the next one! ;)_


	3. Beginnings Take 2

_Welcome to another chapter of All Over Again. And speaking of chapters, I've been thinking of re-writing the first one, the 'Prologue'. It's too long to be a prologue and I also have a track record of writing bad first chapters. Lone Warrior's was simply too short and TDALS was based off of memory and a translated script._

_AOA's was probably too descriptive of the battle that everyone already knows. Thus I believe it needs changing._

_Anyway, on to the review responses…_

_Guest: I'm still in depression. It's not as bad as it used to be, but it's there. Seeing odd viewing numbers for the fic really churns me up, thus why I want to re-write the first chapter. Viewer numbers for it are higher than the second chapter, and it leads me to believe I did something wrong. But I'm still going on with this, despite various worrying things that are going on IRL._

_I also already know about EVA-303 ;)_

_I didn't actually know that Mazinger-Z was built in Aokigahara. I actually put it in, because it was far enough away from Tokyo-3, but not too close either. And it has an excuse now for people not to go there._

_And the volcano base… I was kicking myself on how I would explain it, but now, I'm just like 'dudes, there's a base in the volcano, simply because there is' XD._

_JaceSterne: Mana is not in an Eva… yet._

_Guest2: I'm guessing you're the same guest, right? Any name I can call you by so I know which you are? Anyway… I did say this fic would contain references to other great fics. However, I'm only containing characters from fics I've read. Thousand Shinji isn't one of them, as Warhammer 40k doesn't appeal to me._

_Dominion-5: I really don't understand (probably never will) the mechanics surrounding Kaworu and Instrumentality :/_

_So I just made him a separate soul who is _vaguely_ aware of the events that transpired. Mana is going to be a bit hard for me, since I'm unfamiliar with GoS. _

_Now that that's over and done with… ON WITH THE SHOW!_

888888888888888888

**Beginning Take 2**

Kaworu collapsed to his knees and wept. Lying on the floor in front of him, Shinji was silent, unaware of the former Angel's weeping. Rei/Lilith stood over the pair, her head hung low. The Rei part of her was far more distressed than the Lilith part, but even Lilith could not hide her despair.

She had watched as Kaworu had struck down the rope that held Shinji's body above the floor and proceeded to gently lay him down. He had not expected Shinji to be so unstable. That he would take his own precious life, the beautiful life he had loved so dearly, was unfathomable to him.

Yet here he was, dead. For what reason?

"My purpose," Kaworu sniffed, catching Rei/Lilith's attention, "Was to prepare him. To allow Adam's love to be channeled and allow Shinji to make the right decisions."

"He made the right decisions," Rei/Lilith replied, "He chose for humanity to live."

"THEN WHY IS HE DEAD?!" Kaworu screamed, "If I was supposed to show him love and compassion, what in Adam's name drove him to _suicide?!_" Kaworu was livid. To see what had once been a calm, carefree exterior, now contorted with rage, disturbed Rei/Lilith greatly.

"Several factors led to this outcome," she said despondently, "Your death at his hand was a significant influence." Kaworu's face fell,

"I should have known he would suffer from that." He muttered.

"Following this, he proceeded to masturbate over the comatose Second Child, an act that disgusted him and further drove him to despair.

"He witnessed his friend and guardian being shot in front of him and heard the Second Child being killed by the Mass Production Evangelions, at which point he was able to enter Unit-01…"

Kaworu looked up at Rei/Lilith, the foreboding sense of dread permeating his body,

"… and he saw Unit-02's mutilated carcass being eaten," The goddess was crying as well now, tears dripping off her reddened cheeks, "With the knowledge that the girl he loved was dead, and following further torment for the Eva's and myself, he entered the state necessary for beginning Third Impact.

"He entered Instrumentality, and when he left, he quickly snuffed the life out of the Second Child and in turn, took his own."

She looked back at Kaworu, who was just staring blankly at her.

"He went through hell," he said, wetting his lips, "And when he returned from Instrumentality, he snapped the Second's neck? For what reason?"

Rei/Lilith turned her gaze away from him, looking out of a window at the red sea beyond,

"I am still trying to find the answer to that question myself."

[][][][][][]][[][][][][][]

On the side of Mount Fuji, River Knight stared up into the cloudless sky. The Stars that were scattered across the heavens twinkled brightly. Here, the lights of Tokyo-3 were all but invisible, allowing one a clear view of the constellations. Tonight, Canis Major was the centre piece, its shape easily recognisable amongst countless other stars. There was something about it that just made it that much more obvious, even more so than the Constellations of Orion and Lepus. Even Orion's prominent belt did not catch her eye compared to the glow of Sirius.

Among other things she was vaguely aware of, was the return of Unit-07 some time ago,

"I knew you would be up here." River jumped, spinning around and finding herself face to face with Kaworu. Blushing slightly, she turned back to gazing at the stars,

"You're back," she said simply.

"Were you worried?" he asked, smiling coyly. She grinned at that, and turned back toward him,

"Not even slightly," she replied, "If anything, I feel sorry for the Angel."

His smile fell somewhat, becoming sadder, "I regret our agreement is so harsh. When I stabbed my brother's core, I felt a part of me dying," he said, quietly, and River's own smile vanished, "But I suppose a compromise is a compromise. We are all fighting for a cause."

"This is how things are meant to be now," River told him, "We must be thankful we reached any sort of agreement."

He looked into her eyes, the sparkling stars reflected in the brown orbs, "And you must remember: You aren't one of them anymore. You can't get all sentimental whenever you have to kill one of them." He closed his eyes and his smile brightened a touch,

"Nonetheless, it is difficult. I could feel his dissatisfaction with me as he prepared to pass on, even in light of our agreement."

"I guess you took too long and he wanted to get it over with." The dry sense of humour made him chuckle, but River just turned back to the stars, "So what do you want to do now?" she asked.

He sighed, "I don't know," he replied, "There's only so much we can do to help Shinji. We can't always be by his side to protect him. He still needs to go through the events that shaped him. We can only hope we manage to shape him the right way this time."

River smiled widely now, "OK," she said, "You know that I'm with you. Mana, Aki and I have your back, though I'm not sure about Mari."

"We'll work it out," he smirked, "Otherwise she wouldn't have accepted my plea."

"There's certainly more to her than meets the eye." River agreed.

][][][][][][][][][][][][][

**_*In another Universe*_**

The apartment door slid open. Shinji Ikari stepped wearily through; arms loaded with shopping bags and closed it behind him.

"I'm Home!" he called into the apartment, and waited for the reply from his wife.

But none came. This confused the man, as she was always home before him and never had any reason to go out whilst he was still at work. He set the shopping bags down where he was and trekked further in,

"OK, Mrs. Ikari, where are you? I don't have the time for silly jokes."

As he passed the kitchen table, he caught a glimpse of something in the corner of his eye. Turning, he saw a note laid on top, on top of her old hat.

"What?" he breathed as he reached for it and picked it up.

Then he read it.

"WHAAAAAAT?!" he screamed in alarm. He really didn't know what else to say.

[]][[][][][][][][][][][][]

The door of Asuka's bunk slammed open, causing her to jump, first from shock, then to attention.

Commander Katsuragi was standing there, and she wasn't pleased.

"Where is Captain Makinami?" she fumed. Asuka huffed,

"How the hell should I know? She wasn't in her bed when I woke up."

"She was _supposed_ to report to the Briefing Room five minutes ago, for that little 'stunt' she pulled yesterday." Katsuragi fumed,

"Yeah, I know that. But then again, I don't really care what she does with that idiot. So…" Asuka trailed off.

The Commander raised an eyebrow,

"I know what you're hiding Asuka," she said, "But I know it isn't Mari." Asuka was puzzled, but didn't push it. She knew the Commander knew what it was she hid.

Meanwhile, Katsuragi had pulled out a radio from her jacket and set it to ship-wide broadcast,

"Attention, this is the Commander," she spoke into it, "Captain Makinami is to report to the Briefing Room _immediately_, or you will face time in the brig for insubordination."

A few moments passed before she got a response,

"Commander, this is the starboard Eva Bay. Captain Makinami came in around 0530, followed by the Third Child. She jumped in Unit-08 and sealed herself in."

Misato glowered,

"What the hell is she doing?" she seethed and she marched out of the room. Asuka thought it best to follow.

8888888888888

Shigeru Aoba saluted as Commander Katsuragi and Captain Shikinami entered the Eva Bay. In front of them, Unit-08 stood, silent and unmoving. On a gantry behind its back, a figure could be seen standing awkwardly, fiddling with his fingers. Misato spared a quick glance at him, before turning to Aoba,

"What's the situation, Shigeru?"

"Captain Makinami entered the Bay tailed by Ikari," he reported, "They were talking about something that he seemed worried about." Misato eyed him.

"You didn't happen to catch any of what they were saying, did you?" Aoba shrugged,

"Just that she was telling him that he couldn't follow her, and he desperately wanted to know where it was she was going."

Asuka was off like a rocket. She sprinted up the stairs and along the gantry to Unit-08's back. Shinji spun around and politely stood aside.

"Open her up, Aoba." Katsuragi ordered.

"Yes Ma'am."

Unit-08's head leaned forward as its back opened up and the Entry Plug shot out. Curiously, it didn't eject any LCL from the ports like it would in any forced deactivation. In fact, the Eva had made none of the sounds that went with a deactivation, though it made sense if Mari just wanted to hide.

But Asuka found it so unlike Mari to hide. She had said she was going somewhere, so surely she'd take the Eva as it was her only means of transportation.

So why hadn't she activated it and gone on her way? All became clear when the hatch on top of the plug slid open.

Asuka blinked. Then she turned toward the figures on the floor of the bay.

"Are you absolutely SURE she got in here?"

Aoba was confused, "I'm sure!" he called back up to her. Misato was equally confused, eyeing Asuka as if she was in on some sort of plot,

"Asuka," Shinji spoke up, and she turned back to him, "I watched her get in. There's nowhere else she could be!"

Her eye widened in disbelief, "Then why is the Entry Plug EMPTY?!" she screamed, causing him to shrink back, "Where the FUCK is Mari?!"

[][][]][[][][][][][][][][]

Natalie Breton-Fujinami stirred from her sleep, and yawned. Another day in the city of Kaibyaku, and another day in the world after the end. Sitting up on her bed, she could hear noises in the kitchen, indicating at least one of her consorts was awake and making breakfast. Her belly rumbled, anticipating the prospect of food. She smiled slightly. It was River's turn today and River, despite the lack of ingredients, was a surprisingly proficient cook.

She got up and quickly got dressed, before heading out into the small dining area. She was surprised to find Marco slaving over the stove instead of River.

"Marco?" she asked, "Where's River?" The man just shrugged,

"Probably still in bed. I got fed up of waiting and started breakfast myself. Guess I can't blame her, last night took a lot out of all of us." Natalie couldn't disagree. All six of them had been thoroughly knackered by the battle, so she decided that River deserved a lie-in, despite her fear of sleep. The others weren't up yet either, so she let them have the benefit of the doubt.

"Anything I can help you with?" she asked Marco, earning a wry smile from him,

"Sure."

8888888888888888

A short time passed by. Amy, Kiara and Alex all left their rooms, and sat at the table, waiting for Marco to serve his dish. But there was still no sign of River. Natalie was getting worried. Even Alex was looking a little concerned.

"She should be up by now," he said, as Natalie went and knocked on her door. Alas, she received no answer. All manner of scenarios flitted though her head, at what could have possibly happened to her friend.

Without warning, she flung the door of River's room wide open, light shining through open curtains. She stood there, mouth agape at a pristine, unslept-in bed and a closed, undamaged window. Her case was missing, much of her few belongings gone also.

All there was, was a small piece of paper on the pillow. Hesitantly, she stepped inside and picked it up, reading the hastily written words.

Alex had entered the room, looking around in confusion. Even the twins and Marco were looking in now, not expecting their friend to be absent.

"Where the hell did she go?" Alex asked nobody in particular.

Natalie looked up from the note, even more perplexed then before,

"I have no idea."

[][][][][][]][[][][][][][]

"This is a most disturbing event." Mr Yellow spoke, his high pitched voice cutting through the brief silence.

"Yes," Mr Red interjected, "We have no records of this Evangelion. It is unknown to us. Only Units 00, 01 and 02 should be completed."

"No matter who built it or where it came from," Gendo Ikari spoke out, "It has interfered. It caused considerable damage to Unit-01. We are fortunate the Fourth will arrive long after repairs are completed."

"Who's to say the Unit won't come back and interfere again?" Mr Blue queried. He was the most anxious of the six men in the room, "It may have destroyed the Third Angel for us, but it had no qualms with attacking Unit-01. If Unit-01 is destroyed and we are unable to use Lilith…"

"The Scenario will succeed, Mr Blue." Mr White interrupted, "We will have no use for the backup."

Mr Blue grumbled, "That remains to be seen."

"In any case," Ikari declared, "I would like to make sure that we are properly equipped to deal with the Eva the next it rears its head." The Committee members eyed him suspiciously.

"What are you suggesting?" Mr Green uttered.

"I ask that the deployment dates of the remaining Units be moved ahead of schedule. The offending Evangelion has demonstrated itself to be incredibly deft at combat tactics, even with an arm missing. It would be a prudent measure to deter it from further intrusions."

The Committee looked around at each other, silently conversing amongst themselves, before turning back to Ikari,

"Agreed," Mr Red told him, "Unit-02 will be transferred immediately. Construction on Units 03 and 04 will be made 24/7."

Gendo nodded solemnly, "Thank you for your generosity."

"Do not mistake our motives for kindness, Commander Ikari," Mr Yellow screeched, putting the Commander in his place, "The Scrolls did not predict the intervening of a Third Party."

"Understand this, Ikari," Mr White droned, "If that loathsome Evangelion does appear again…

"…You are to destroy it, with extreme prejudice."

With that, the members of the Committee disappeared, leaving Gendo alone in the darkened room.

"I understand." He said belatedly, before he too vanished.

8888888888888888888

Shinji had been surprised, to say the least, when the raven haired young woman had told him she would be taking him in. He had told her he was fine living by himself in the NERV accommodations, but she wouldn't take no for an answer. Then again, he did expect she'd do that. She had a big heart.

_Why did I expect that of her? I barely know her!_

What wasn't a surprise was that his father couldn't be asked to have any association with his son, save for acknowledging that he existed. Misato had been very understanding of it all, especially since she'd had daddy issues of her own. She didn't go into details, but he got the idea.

The car ride to her home had been a little awkward. Neither said much to the other, but the little furrow of Misato's brow spoke volumes. She was itching to say something him, but he didn't catch on. Something he was ultimately going to have to learn.

And now here he was, standing at the door to her apartment. A stack of boxes, containing his belongings, stood to one side. The door of the apartment softly slid open, a stream of light illuminating his feet.

"Come on in!" Misato said, cheerfully. Shinji fidgeted,

"I- I don't want to intrude," He responded, bashfully. Misato's smile faded.

"Shinji," her tone was exasperated, "This is _your_ home now."

Slowly, he raised a foot, hesitating momentarily. Then he stepped inside.

"I'm home," he told her, smiling shyly. She beamed in response,

"Welcome home!"

Those words felt good. To both speaker and recipient.

"Sorry about the mess," Misato said, as the pair walked further into the apartment, "I just moved in myself."

Shinji looked around. Her definition of 'mess' was perhaps a bit of an overstatement. Sure, the place wasn't exactly tidy, but it wasn't a pigsty.

'_Well, it could do with a little improvement…_' he thought.

"Oh, could you put the groceries in the fridge please?" she sing-songed to him from another room.

"Huh?" he looked down into his arms. He had forgotten he was carrying a bag of groceries. Shrugging, he carried it the one of the fridges and opened it up…

…Only to find a large black and white penguin inside, which was now looking at him in annoyance. Shinji blinked in surprise.

"WARK!" the penguin squawked, making Shinji jump back with a squawk of his own. Misato peeked out from behind the door of her room and giggled,

"I see you've met Pen-Pen,"

"Pen-Pen?" Shinji cried in disbelief.

"Yeah!" she responded cheerily, "You two are gonna be room-mates!"

"A penguin?!"

"Wark!" Pen-Pen squawked again, as he closed the door of his fridge.

"Yup. He's technically my pet."

"OK." Shinji gave up comprehending it for the time being. Enough crazy shit had happened today.

Going to the _other_ fridge, Shinji paused. There was a heck of a lot of beer piled on the floor. He frowned, reckoning that was why she was a bit of a doozy. What he didn't notice was the layer of dust covering each of the cans.

"You hungry?" Shinji looked up from packing the groceries. Misato had changed into more casual attire, denim shorts and a loose fitting t-shirt, her purple hair done up in a neat ponytail.

"Yeah," was his simple reply. She gave him a small smile,

"I'll cook something up real quick alright?"

"Alright."

"You want something to drink in the meantime?"  
"Have you got coffee?"

"Sure."

8888888

A short time later, Shinji was sitting at the table, an empty can of UCC coffee off to one side, and an empty plate in front of him. For an instant meal, it hadn't been bad, but he reckoned he was going to have to learn how to cook in order to actually eat something nutritious every once in a while. At least his belly was full. He hadn't realised how hungry he really was until he wolfed it down.

Misato had been less enthusiastic. She seemed to play with the food, taking bites and nibbles, but not _ wanting_ it. He studied her now, as she reclined in her chair, torn between opening a can of UCC or Yebisu. Her expression was unreadable to him, somewhere between confidence and a frown. Finally, she set down the beer can and cracked open the coffee.

But before she took a sip, she paused and sniffed the air. Then, she looked down at Shinji, who was just staring blankly at her,

"What's that smell?" she asked suddenly.

"S-smell?" Shinji stuttered.

"Yeah… It smells like blood…" Misato said breathily.

Shinji looked apologetic, "Oh. It's probably LCL. I don't think I had a shower after I was pulled out of the Eva. Sorry."

Misato smiled comfortingly,

"It's not your fault Shinji-kun," she reassured him, "Why don't you go take a bath and get rid of the rest, ok?"

Shinji smiled shyly back at her,

"Ok." He replied.

"Just be careful," she called to him as he entered the bathroom behind him, "Pen-Pen _may_ have snuck in there and run a bath of his own."

"How?" Shinji asked, disbelieving. Misato just tapped the side of her nose,

"He's one sneaky bird."

88888888888888888888

The sound of running water filled the apartment. Pen-Pen had _not_ snuck into the bathroom for a bath of his own, so Shinji was filling the tub from scratch.

Misato was finally as close as it got to being alone that day.

Reaching into her short pockets, she retrieved her phone, and speed-dialled the first number on the list. It rang once, before being picked up,

"He's home," she said, tears beginning to form in her eyes, "He's finally home."

"That's good to hear, Misato-san," the voice on the other end conversed back to her. Misato sniffed as the tears began flowing,

"You have no idea how hard it was to restrain myself," she sobbed, choking back any tell-tale noises that might alert Shinji, "I just wanted to hold him and tell him how much I love him!"

"You will get the chance to do so one day, Misato-san. We have both taken our first steps towards a better world. Now you must guide Shinji along his."

Misato nodded, sniffing and wiping her eyes and cheeks,

"I've taken my first steps towards redemption," she repeated back to the voice, "And now I must guide him along his own."

"Yes," the voice said, "I trust you Misato-san. With your knowledge and past experiences, he will come to trust you once again."

Then, the line went dead. Sighing, she set the phone down on the table. Taking a deep breath, she calmed herself down and finished off her coffee. She went the rest of the night pretending nothing had ever happened.

On the other end of the line, Kaworu placed the receiver back into its slot.

"I foresee difficult times ahead." He said to himself.

His own ominous words, troubled him deeply. Because he knew he was right.

[][][][][][][][][][][][][]

_Well, that's the end of this long chapter. I apologize for the long delay between parts, but this chapter gave me a lot of trouble. Since I'm my own beta-reader, it takes longer to analyse and I feel this chapter has not quite got it right._

_The format is how it's meant to be. A jumble, several events happening at once… or something._

_Ultimately, I don't plan like everyone does. I have a basic plot, that needs expanding, but I don't draft anything._

_It's at times like these that I'd ask for a pre-reader, but this project is really my own thing, so I won't ask, but if anyone volunteers, I'll gladly accept their help._

_So, don't forget to leave a review, and I'll see you in the next one! This is Fanatica, signing out!_

[][][][][]][[][][][][][][]


	4. The reason for my Absence

I apologize for the long delay between the coming chapter and the last.

Life has not been kind. My depression is making a comeback, so all I've been doing is watch youtube, playing video games, watching new anime, like Gurren Lagaan, Zipang and the Big O, and, oddly enough, fussing over the farcical British General Election.

All this means I have made very little progress on chapter 4, but it does not mean I have given up.

No matter how long it takes, I will finish this one.

I currently have a video project for my youtube channel that I am working on, that will hopefully be done by next week, so when that is done, I'll put my effforts back into AOA.

I apologise that your hopes of a fully fledged chapter were not met today.


	5. Into the Abyss of the Unknown

_Signing IN!_

_Hello and __welcome back to All Over Again! The peggy sue fic that is a blatant copy of every other peggy sue out there._

_Sadly, this isn't a full chapter. I figured I should release _something_ and this would have to do for now. _

_This chapter (as a whole when completed) will hint where this fic is going, but I'm not sure if I should go there (don't worry, no _futafanatic _bullshit here)._

_Reviews:_

_JimmyWolk (yes that one): I'm glad you don't want this to die! Neither do I, but as it happens, I suck at building the middles of stories. Beginnings and endings I can really flesh out, but now we're in the middle. Progress is SLOW._

_As you asked, no spoilers, even if they make cars look awesome ;)_

_But otherwise, you helped me stick this one out. Thanks for boosting my confidence Jimmy!_

_Dominion5: I have no idea how to respond to your review in long hand… so I'll just say 'thanks' and no, it wouldn't XD_

_However, speaking of very bad things, I could be entering financial difficulties very soon. I've never been in a job for various reasons. I've been on benefits for medical grounds (owing to my recent and ongoing spate of depression and stress), but in order to keep receiving the benefits, I have to attend an assessment with a different doctor._

_My fears are that they'll find nothing 'wrong' with me and my benefits will stop, forcing to look for work in a state that isn't fit for it. Whilst this chapter has taken ages because of distraction, future ones may well be delayed for other reasons._

_And thus, the next chapter begins:_

[][][][][][]][[][][][][][]

**Into the Abyss of the Unknown/Treading on New Ground**

**Part One**

"Captain Soryu and Inspector Kaji, please report to the Commander's office; Captain Soryu and Inspector Kaji, please report to the Commander's office, thank you."

The PA system fizzled out, leaving relative silence in its wake. Asuka Langley Soryu looked up at the ceiling in confusion, unsure as to what the Commander wanted now.

"Well," she said as she gracefully leapt from her laid back position on the sofa, "Orders are orders. I doubt it's anything major. It's not like I'm be deployed to Japan ahead of schedule or anything!"

8888888888888888888

"The reason I called you here, Inspector Kaji, Captain Soryu," Commander Bucklige's nasally voice perforated the room, "Is because the UN has ordered the deployment of Unit 02 be moved ahead of schedule."

Asuka silently cursed herself, 'Me and my big mouth!' she thought. This revelation came as a big surprise to Asuka, who had been expecting deployment at least a month from now. Even Kaji looked mildly stunned,

"Are you sure?" he asked, "I still have some things to take care of."

"I'm afraid I am sure, Inspector," Bucklige shook his head, almost sadly, "Whatever it is you want to do, will have to wait for some other day. You leave tomorrow on the UN Carrier _Over the Rainbow_, former _USS Truman_. Unit-02 will be transported on a large freighter that will have a significant escorting fleet, made up of several advanced vessels. You'll be protected from all threats, human and angel alike."

Asuka, quickly adapted to the idea of going to Japan early,

"Well, I guess it _is_ about time I showed those scrubs what a _real _pilot looks like!" she boasted, garnering a roll of the eyes from Bucklige. Kaji, on the other hand, was looking slightly sweaty,

"Can't this wait, even a day? I-"

"No, it can't, Inspector. The initial threat level analysis in Tokyo-3 was wrong. Nerv-HQ needs all three Eva's operational much sooner than predicted."

"B-b-but…" Kaji stammered, unable to form his words. Asuka was looking at her guardian questionably.

"Miss Soryu," Bucklige suddenly said, "I suggest you go and start packing for the trip. All of your belongings will be posted and ready for your arrival in Tokyo-3."

"But Kaji…" Asuka began, only for Bucklige to put a finger to his lips.

"He may not seem like it, but he takes his work very seriously. It's understandable he's worried about unfinished business. You go on ahead and I'll help him calm down." Asuka nodded, turned tail and left the room.

"Kaji, get a hold of yourself. You'll attract unnecessary attention" Bucklige whispered to the sweating Inspector. He reached under his desk and lifted a huge, bulky case on his desk. At the sight of, Kaji's eyes widened in wonder,

"You mean… is that it?"

Bucklige only grinned,

"You're not Ikari's only Ace up his sleeve."

[][][][][][][][][][][][][]

The wind whistled forlornly, as if aghast at what the world had become.

They sat there for some time, just allowing the breeze to flow between them. Rei/Lilith had not said a word since their last conversation, which was at least three hours ago. Neither had Kaworu, his head hung low as he silently questioned the evidence he was presented with.

'_Was it all worth it?'_ he asked himself, '_This world devoid of life and love? A world that Shinji created from the despair of his heart?'_

He looked up slightly, focusing on Asuka's body. She still lay there, untarnished from exposure, perfectly capturing her as she was when alive. He made his decision.

"I want to change it." Rei/Lilith looked up,

"Change what?" she asked, confused.

"The fate of this world," Kaworu responded, "The fate of Shinji, Asuka, Rei, and all others who once lived here. I want to give them a better future."

There was a pause as Rei/Lilith processed his statement.

"How do you plan on carrying that out?" she asked, genuinely curious. Kaworu was at a loss.

"There's no way I could do anything by myself," he muttered despondently, "Not anymore. I'm just a lowly human who wishes for the world to start over again."

Rei/Lilith raised an eyebrow,

"You want to start over?"

"Yes!" he cried, his voice full of conviction, "I want to do everything all over again, but different! I want to make the outcome better, to give Shinji and Asuka the life they deserve! I no longer wish for Third Impact to be instigated by any party! I want to start again!"

The girls' eyes were wide with awe, before the corners of her mouth curled upwards in determination,

"If that's what you want to happen… you're going to need some help." Now it was Kaworu's turn to look up in confusion,

"You'd help me?" he asked. She nodded in reply, "But… even if we do go back, there would be little that the two of us could do. The MAGI would detect you and you'd be eliminated by Nerv, or at least forced to distance yourself. Then I'd be stuck at square one."

"I didn't say I was going with you," she smirked, almost cruelly, "But you will have companions. I will see to it."

Before Kaworu could ask her clarify, she stood and faced the red ocean. Slowly, she raised a hand and without warning or hesitation, she plunged it into her chest. Kaworu gasped in horror as Rei/Lilith searched her chest cavity, ripping out a chunk of her S2 Engine and crumbling it into nine distinct pieces. With her telekinetic powers, she lifted them from her palm, and sent the pieces flying in all different directions.

Tracing their paths, Kaworu watched as the S2 fragments flew towards and penetrated the petrified remains of the Mass Production Evangelion's.

"Shadows of Adam!" Rei/Lilith cried out, lifting her arms above head as she did so, "I have a use for you!"

Night had long since fallen on the house far away. Its occupants, young and old, rested peacefully, undisturbed by events that had since passed. The two sisters who shared the home had once not known each other's true identities, hating each other following the death of their father. But betrayed by their mother, and given the truth at that time, the pair stuck together, ending the threat their mother wrought, and finally coming to love each other the way sisters should. The path had bloodied by the loss of loved ones, but the world was a better place owing to their sacrifice. A sacrifice which one sister would never forget.

And now that sister was woken. A strange noise, followed by a blinding, orange light, stirred the girl from her slumber. Her eyes opened to a peculiar sight: a jagged crack on the opposite wall. It was from this crack that the light poured in and a voice called her name. She could not help getting out of her bed to investigate.

"What is this?" she mumbled sleepily to herself. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she brought her gear-shaped pupils to bear on the mysterious crack. A ghostly voice kept calling out her name. She couldn't discern their intentions. Were they encouraging her to satisfy her curiosity, and touch the crack? Or were they warning her, warning her to stay away? Was it dangerous? Why was it here? How did it just simply form? What the hell was going on?

Her mind filled with questions, but also yet more voices, voices she didn't recognise

…_I perform a much-needed job here in this city of amnesia…_

…_Who the hell do you think I am?_

…_I am your father…_

…_Don't blink, not even for a second…_

…_You did your best. I will save you now…_

…_Hast thou exerted all possible efforts?_

…_Space. The Final Frontier…_

…_I have a use for you…_

It clicked in her mind. Someone had a use for her. She was needed. Someone was calling for her, to provide them with assistance.

Bombarded from all sides, she gave in to temptation, and touched the crack.

Her screams filled the entire house, jolting her sister to full wakefulness.

"Nee-sama! Help me! Get me out!" The crazed, desperate cries of her younger sister flooded the room. With lightning speed agility, she leapt out of bed and entered her sisters' room. She didn't even bother going out the door and through the hallway, she simply smashed through the dividing wall, landing on the unoccupied bed.

"Nee-san!" she cried in horror, as she watched her sisters' legs disappearing into a hulking crack on the opposite wall. She bound over, but alas, she was not quick enough. Her sisters' feet vanished, and the crack immediately closed up, leaving no trace of its existence. Wasting no time, the older sister punched the wall with all of her might, but all she was met with, was brick dust, open air and rain water.

There was no trace of her sister, just the storm that had sprung up from nowhere. Only once before had she felt so helpless. With bottomless fury, frustration and utter confusion, she heaved a deep breath and cried out into the night,

"Nee-saaaannn!"

[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]

_So that's all for now. Sorry! The rest is still in the works, but as I stated, my depression came back with a bloody vengeance. Sometimes I can't be bothered to get out of bed._

_And when I am out of bed, I'm watching the shit out of Kantai Collection. So expect a thing or two from Kancolle in future._


	6. Well this is awkward

**Ummm… hiiii :D :sheepish grin:**

**So… yeah, it's been a while hasn't it? I regret this long hiatus, I truly didn't wish for this. The writing flame inside of me died down, capable only of short snippets of fluff. However, assisting Volxsis1755, who has adopted Lone Warrior, has refueled the flame, at least a little bit.**

**I write this late on 26/06/2017, so well over two years since I last wrote anything for this fic. The time has at least given me time to think this over a bit, and I've revised the story.**

**I'll admit, this was originally going to be a bit of a multi-crossover, but that's no longer the case. There will still be few crossovers made, but it won't be as ridiculous as Jean-Luc Picard and Kaworu Nagisa vs Darth Vader and Gendo Ikari.**

**I'll be tweaking the existing chapters. Hopefully nothing major, but, depending on how well the coming plot is received, the last chapter released in 2015 may actually lose a fair chunk. Speaking of which, I'll need a beta. I might be able to find one on Sufficient Velocity, but I reckon most people will be reading **_**Advice and Trust**_**, and too busy to attention to **_**AoA**_**.**

**Ah, before I forget, I'll mention that I did receive JimmyWolk's blessing to continue using Aki as a character. Of course, this isn't **_**the**_** Aki Ikari, rather **_**an**_** Aki Ikari. All will **_**eventually**_** be explained.**

**Oh, and one last thing. One of the old reviews asks who some of the characters are. Well, River, Alex, Marco, Amy and Kiara all appear in Karoly Burnford's work **_**Evangelion: The End and After – Revelations, **_**albeit are not Karoly's actual OC's****. I highly suggest you read it, to see how River works, and also because it's a great story. Maybe even read the main story. You can find it all on Deviant Art, PM me if you're having trouble finding it.**

**And now, to business. See you soon!**


End file.
